San Diego Padres 2020 MLB Draft scouting profile: Austin Martin

We continue preparing for the San Diego Padres 2020 MLB Draft by looking at one of the best all-around players in college baseball.

As the San Diego Padres take the field for Spring Training next weekend, college baseball teams will hit the field playing actual games.

If you’re a college baseball nut like I am, this is the most exciting time of the season. Major League Baseball teams are getting into gear, and you get a look at the future with college baseball having the stage all to itself for a month-and-a-half.

This is the third player I have previewed for the upcoming 2020 MLB Draft. If you’ve missed any of our 2020 MLB Draft coverage, please check it out here.

Now that I’ve really buried the lead on this one, today we’ll be focusing on Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin.

He was originally drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 37th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, but elected to go the college route.

As a freshman in 2018 he hit .338/.452 with 44 runs scored, 14 doubles, 1 home run, 19 RBI, and 22 stolen bases in 59 games and 222 at-bats.

Martin was named a Freshman All-American by just about every major media outlet.

This past season he really broke out and helped lead Vanderbilt to a College World Series championship by hitting .387/.478 with 82 runs scored, 19 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 46 RBI, and 18 stolen bases in 63 games and 261 at-bats.

Those numbers were good enough to make him a First Team All-American by both D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.

And now he enters the 2020 season as a First Team Preseason All-American by every major outlet.

Where will he be drafted?

This is not someone who will likely be available to the San Diego Padres when they pick at eight.

He would have to suffer a serious injury or hit below .250 for that to even become a remote possibility.

We’ve already seen enough from him at the college level to know what he’s capable of.

Again, the only thing he really needs to work on in his junior season is proving that he can stick on the left side of the infield. And reports indicate he should get a chance to start at shortstop in 2020.

But even if he can’t, with the type of bat he posses you can stick him at second base and be fine.

With the path that Martin is on, and assuming he bulks up a little bit more, we could be looking at .300 hitter at the next level who can also hit 20-plus home runs.

I don’t have a great comp for him off the top of my head, but in terms of average, power, and position he’s very similar to Alec Bohm who was taken third overall by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2018 MLB Draft.

But Martin adds an element Bohm doesn’t possess with his speed, which makes him even more valuable.

I could see Martin hitting .310/.375 at the big league level one day with 20-25 home runs and 10-15 stolen bases. There may even be the potential for him to be a 20-20 guy someday.

If I were picking first I would certainly take Martin because of all the tools he possesses. And while I really wish the Padres had a shot at him, it just doesn’t seem likely.

My prediction is that he’ll go second overall in the upcoming 2020 MLB Draft to the Baltimore Orioles.